Okami Amaterasu Exclusive Edition (First 4 Figures)

Well howdily diddly ho, collectorinos! ChocolateSpider here with another figure review. Today I share with you a statue many gamers have been eagerly awaiting the release of. Today I am reviewing First 4 Figures' exclusive edition 1/4 scale statue of Amaterasu from Clover Studio's hit game, "Okami."

Let's get started. Of course we will start with the box. It is quite lovely and detailed. If you are a collector that prefers to display your boxes, this is one that will stand out for sure.

On the back, we have a summary of the game's plot along with a description of the statue.

As you can see, I own copy 1250 of the 1350 produced. I honestly don't care about what number the copy I own is. As long as I have one and it is in good condition, that's all that matters to me.

As with every F4F statue, the contents are encased in a tight-fitting styrofoam shell. On the front, we have the name of the character and the authenticity card taped to the shell.

On the back, we have an etching of the statue.

That is pretty artistic for a part of the package that is almost guaranteed to never be seen more than maybe twice in one's ownership of this product. :P

When opening this shell, it is important that you have the side with the authenticity card facing up.

It is at this position Amaterasu and the other parts are in their upright positions, making it less likely the parts will be damaged while removing them from the box.

Assembling the statue is pretty simple. Just stick the parts together and where they all fit is made quite obvious. Before viewing this statue fully assembled, let's take a closer look at the base.

I would say this is certainly one of F4F's most vibrant bases for a statue they have ever made. Amaterasu stands on a verdant patch of land on the plains of Nippon. There is an abundance of flowers, leafs and rocks giving the base a strong sense of vitality.

The flowers come in a variety of different colors and are shaded nicely.

They also did a great job with the rocks. They look pretty realistic overall. I like that different colors of rocks are incorporated rather that just one kind.

But the greenery is not as well done as the flowers and rocks. The paint job here is rather harsh and scratchy looking.

One thing I have noticed with this company's statues is that they seem to struggle with paintjobs for green plants like grass and leafs.

This is pretty much the same paint job that you will see on their other works containing green plants in the structure. It is rather off putting because it stands out when compared to the job done with the flowers and rocks. But I suppose this is not as much of a glaring issue with this particular statue due to the whole watercolor style visuals of the game.

The dirt covered ground is nice though. Although the combination of sculpt and paint make it look like a large, brown stone slab as opposed to the general terrain you would walk on. I used a macro lens for this shot, so it was a tad generous with the zoomed in details.

This statue is unique to other F4F exclusive editions because instead of the usual base powering the LEDs using batteries that are inserted manually, this base has a rechargeable battery that can be plugged to a USB port.

Overall, I give the base an 8/10. Very lovely for sure, but there is some clear room for improvement.

Now that we have looked at the base, let's take a look at the whole statue.

I really enjoy this statue's pose and presentation. You see Amaterasu letting out a bold howl with her companion Issun standing atop her solar reflector. This presentation makes this statue command a lot of attention in one's display.

While I have some issues with the base, Amaterasu herself is pretty much flawless. Everything from the sculpt of the fur to the ink-like lines along her body stay true to the visuals of the game.

They did a nice job painting her claws. I like that they added some small specs and scratches to make them look organic as opposed to just a simple coat of black.

I think they did an especially nice job with her mouth. The tongue has a realistic paint application and her teeth look a tad gamey and unclean, which you would expect for a wolf. How often do you think a wolf brushes its teeth? I am guessing not often.

One humorous detail, which is also seen on other figures of Amaterasu, is this ink-style anus below the tail.

Balancing on the top edge of the solar reflector is her artist companion, Issun.

Issun is well painted and the details are nicely defined for such a small structure. They did an especially nice job with his insect-like hat.

Now we move onto the solar reflector. Although the coloring is not quite as vibrant or saturated as shown in the prototype pictures, it is still the most visually impressive part of this statue.

The whole structure seems to be made with a glass-like plastic, giving it some gloss and shine when light is cast upon it. It is mounted in place solely on the left shoulder.

I was concerned about it bending and falling off as it does not seem like a particularly sound system to keep something of this size and shape mounted in place, but it seems to be solidly held together. Obviously they had to do something like this to simulate how the solar reflector hovers over her body, so I would say they did a great job setting this system up.

On the underside of the reflector is a small, and crystal clear mirror.

Oh snap! Issun's photobomb game is strong. Photobombing using only his reflection in the mirror. Let's see Honoka top that. :P

And for the finale of this review, we will take a look and the exclusive edition's LED feature.

I have to admit I am a bit disappointed with the LED feature. Other owners are aware of this by now, but the light is not nearly as bright as the promotional images or even other owner pictures seems to convey it to be. The problem that occurred here is not really on F4F's end, but rather was a problematic tendency of most cameras. Cameras have a natural tendency to exaggerate the amount of light coming from a light-emitting subject, making the subject's luminescence seem brighter than what you see with your own eyes.

Something I recently learned in my photography class is that countering this can be rather tedious. It takes a lot of adjustment and light control to get an accurate representation of emitted light from a subject without darkening the overall image too much. I used some exposure techniques my instructor recommended and I think I can show you the difference between what a camera's default representation of the light is versus what you see in person.

Here is what it looks like with auto white balance and standard level light exposure.

Looks pretty much like the promotional and other owner pics, right? Next I disable my camera's auto white balance, increase the exposure a little bit, and lower the shutter speed. The resulting picture is closer to what I see with my own eyes.

If you were hoping that this light would be blazing bright like the sun, you may find yourself a bit disappointed. But even though it is not as bright as I expected it to be, it is still quite gorgeous and emits enough light to make it a very effective nightlight. Have it be the only light in a small dark room and I would say it makes just the right amount of light for some snuggle time with your lover. ❤

One other problem I have with this LED feature is that I don't feel like the light spreads through enough of the structure.

The light seems to only spread out to the center circular area of the solar reflector. This leaves the branches of the flames unlit. It feels weird for only the center of a body of fire to be luminescent. I think this could have been resolved if some small LEDs were placed in the length of the flame's branches.

So here is my final verdict on this statue. Considering how pricey this statue is, having the less than desirable details I mentioned makes it feel like I didn't fully get my money's worth from this purchase. While I am a bit disappointed it does not seem to fully live up to its hype and advertisement, I would say this is perhaps as close to perfection as any F4F statue has ever come. All it needs is some better paint work done for the greens on the base, increase the amount of LEDs spread through the solar reflector, use some LEDs with a higher lumen count, and this statue would have been truly perfect. I would say this is easily in the company's top 5 best statues. Do I regret purchasing this statue? Absolutely not. Is this one of my favorite statues in my collection? Absolutely yes.

If you feel like you won't be satisfied purchasing the exclusive edition if the LED feature is not blazing bright, I would recommend getting the standard edition. Although the exclusive edition is visually superior even with the light not being as bright as advertised, the solar reflector is still stunning to look at without the use of the LEDs. It all comes down to how much of a preference you have for the LED functionality. If you are a fan of Okapi and have a strong need to have a prominent Amaterasu figure on display, either version of this statue will fill this role nicely.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this review. In the next few days, I will post a review for Aniplex's 1/7 Fate/Grand Order Saber Deluxe Edition. After that, I will post my March loot, which of course will feature a cute comic of my action figures playing "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild." See you all next time! (^o^)

Maakie (1 jaar geleden) #19357780Rechargeable figure bases are the future! *o*
Nice review btw! :) Looks like an amazing piece, but I'm surprised at the letdowns here and there.
I know, right? Those were majorly unexpected to me. Usually their LED features are spot on in terms of the amount of light emitted. I'll try playing around with display lights to see if it can compensate for the solar reflector. Thank you very much for reading. :D

Thanks for reviewing Ammy for us! I can't afford either version of her, but she's beautiful. Okami got me through insomnia filled nights and I enjoyed it so much I beat it every summer as a tradition. That is until I lent it to a friend who didn't return it in time and thus broke the cycle.

OceanRoost (1 jaar geleden) #19160365I'm a huge Okami fan and got the standard version of the figure, mostly because I don't ever want to have to worry about lights or wiring at anytime ever in the future. Though after seeing how dim they are I'm glad I saved the money and got the regular edition!
Right now I'm using the huge box as a table for it and she's chilling with the okami noodle stoppers that just came out. Thank you for this review!
Your are most welcome. I generally go with the standard editions too for the same reason. This is one of the only exclusive editions I ever purchased, so it is a bit of a bummer that the amount of light from the LEDs does not seem to be adequate. Oh well. at least it is bright enough to use as a nightlight. :)

I'm a huge Okami fan and got the standard version of the figure, mostly because I don't ever want to have to worry about lights or wiring at anytime ever in the future. Though after seeing how dim they are I'm glad I saved the money and got the regular edition!

Right now I'm using the huge box as a table for it and she's chilling with the okami noodle stoppers that just came out. Thank you for this review!

Dbonn12 (1 jaar geleden) #19153275As always, F4F can always up their game with the painting, though I don't think they've ever acknowledge that criticism.
Fair review :)
Yeah. I have started to notice that as well. Seems like there are some things they never seem to improve upon. But hopefully now that they are trying to have a more direct and social presence on Facebook, maybe that will change in the future.